John the Baptiser- July 1994

Dear Teachers,
Bruce has asked about a passage of St. John’s Gospel which appears to contradict the other gospels, in that John (the Baptist) says that he is not Elias (John 1:21), when Christ has said that he is (Matthew 11:14). Reading through again and again, I now ask you for a description of John please, in who he was and is, in what he did and how, and to what purpose? Could we have a picture-window of then please?

IT was in a cavity of sweet-water, held floating in the lake of the womb, that it was that John happened upon his Lord once again [Luke 1:41], making meet within the appointed place, this world. In foremost joy he knew that the Life was brought to him; that Life which he must go forth and reveal, employed with fervor, with haste, to as many as could receive it.

A voice in the desert was indeed a hard thing to come by [John 1:23]. What is meant by this, is that commonly the throat is so set upon with dryness that speech is stubborn and requires relief. To 'cry out' as that voice, is to be strong that you may do so. Quite so, were the men of that time most dry and without.

This could be explained at length, to understand the condition of the souls and their personage, and the wizened remains of what once was a fine and healthy people. The nervous system from the base of the spine branching to the cranium and out, had a plague of ague. The Helots were dying because of imported disease carried in by the devils which did cohabit with men, devils which could manifest appearing as men themselves - who had souls, but had not souls. And for those men who were men, their constitution was wracked with insult and burning, and they were parched dry inside with unresponsive hearts so stiffly encased; without tears, without expression, in the many other fluids which flow from a man who ordinarily bears emotion. Even the bloods became sluggish and like paste, for it was overgrown with it.

This was not the Orb as we see it, but it was nonetheless, the old world out of which we did advance. The transition from sphere unto sphere was of itself a catastrophe of kind, one which still resonates upon this world and does cause ill because of it. The catastrophe was moreover a spiritual war, vented with insolence which damaged many souls and entrapped them with a guile.

There were also many advanced spirits and men who foresaw the episodes which were to come (and repeat, in minor degree later on) and although the conditions of those very ancient times were as now unrecognisable, they were to be the beginnings of our Christ being called upon, that He should save all the men who were left.

There is a spirit of the Moon, our old Moon, which is not the one which ensouls this planet, for there is also she which tarries on, to which we all gravitate. This planetary spirit was not as the enspirited Moon, but as the enspirited body of Men at that time. He was the Captain, so to speak, mighty and forsworn to his people. This was the spirit Elijah, which was to be of John the Baptiser, who necessarily could bridge the way and so sacrifice himself to Christ.

That the head was to be later severed from the trunk [Mark 6:27] was the most pitiable example of the relinquishment of such forces as were holding our new planet at bay. For Elijah gave up himself from the world, as part of the withholding of the old ways which bent so heavily upon the Globe. He withdrew from manifestation also, being present only as invisible, as he makes passage to and from the old world into this. The men he loves are still his men; and yet they have, by the grace of Christ, become altered and now impervious to the lower influences which struck at their souls from their brothers’ remains. For it was that the graveyards of lost souls made suffer the fresh, seeking their life once again, pressing on men who were walking the Earth. These remnants of men have now their spirits sleeping, and have separated off in the wasteland of memory adhered to the old Moon.

He who was Elijah renounced himself [John 3:30-31] that the men might proceed forth in order to recognize Christ in His full magnificence. It was to be the death of self of the old world and old order, to permit Christ to come into the waking souls of all men. In this queer example of refutation - " I am not" - it is plain that he has no longer acknowledged himself and in this found true sacrifice, for greater Sacrifice to later follow.

The remission of sins was a regaining of certain (as ensured) strength on behalf of the men who sought to purge in preparation for the receiving of the Christ, that they were truly in freedom, as appointed by Christ Himself; that they could shake and loosen from them all that was undesirable to them and become spiritually glorious once again.

The events at the waterside were all joyous and exceedingly "hearty". For there, immersed beside he who was with the Spirit of the older world, who knew the waters like no other, there was the portal through to the new world, finally made apparent to those men - cleansed from the deceit of the past which had pretended to be in all realism their very fate. So those who were overcome with freedom weighed heavier with the water which had washed over them. They received it into their physical constitution, as it lessened the strengths of the condensation of deposits, and brought about a lively circulation of all fiery and inert forces.

The men thus transformed then saw Christ in His radiance; and because of their departure from failure they could then absorb the Hope which poured from our Master’s Being. And this Hope was so potent that it could touch the hearts of any man who could come to see it. From one unto another it gave the vision to the soul. Borne by Love, the Christ-light entered into those who would first believe in the freedom that He gives for this, our Future.
 

Love: the Physician- 24th June 1994

LOVE is the great physician. This is indeed no new piece of wisdom, for it has ever been known as that remedy to incompleteness, to weakness, and for the maligned - for any who do suffer in extreme in any part of their composition.

When our Christ heals He does because of His Love, and it is by His Love that specific remedy is cured, cured in precise prescription, knowing only that man and what he does need; and therefore that remedy is lasting and significant, and vital to his being. Cure the remedy well and you cure the man who is to receive it.

So you may now picture that it was not by superior craftiness that He effected and effects His rapid miracles. This is an unusual approach to the subject of healing, of administering to one another, but it is paramount to the crucible of any said cure.

One must not become offended at the thought offered that we are all without and wanting in some particular way. In this we are most perfect for what we are at this time. Having been 'made to order', so to speak, we are largely (nay, in total) a proud product of our Maker. Any deficit in character or soul, ego-consciousness or capacity of expression, is accounted for, explained and forgiven and then set to be answered with comparable virtue.

All the while we are developing our capacities to contain Love, that we may receive it, that we may transport and thus deliver it, and that we may be saturated and swell with it. This is the ongoing 'expansive' advancement of a man, which directly affects his inner and outer constitution. If we may accept this as a fundamental basis to whatever practice of healing we presume, then we begin in accordance with a projected healthy outcome.

To envisage love on demand is unreasonable. Love is a place where our consciousness cannot yet penetrate in full-knowing awareness. Try as we might, it is as the daylight hours are to one who is totally blind - the real warmth is differentiated but the vision though illumined, is not accessible.

In this way it appears to be elusive and yet we are held buoyant within its swaddling; we remain vital and intact because of its bonding to Life. Our perception is moreover elusive, unstable and wanting, rather than Love itself.

We may falter, we may teeter in and out and around its great offerings, but Love is the most dependable strength contrasted to all else; and of course is quite inseparable to all that 'else'. What Love is cannot be defined by the deduction of what it is not; and yet by the same token, we may look to ourselves and ask 'what we are not' in order to find how Love may administer to us and fulfil those very deficits.

Firstly we may establish that such Love as is true, pure and good, and quite real, intensely real, is unfettered from obligation: monetarily it may not be bartered, in relationships it may not be negotiated for exchange. It is quick to infill He who loves, no more, no less. Paradoxically all men are startled at this thought, as the inner impressions of their contesting natures rise in protest with bewildered indignation, alarmed because of their seeming incapacity to love wholeheartedly and well.

However it is that men are and are not what they seem. To know Love is more natural to each and everyone than is presumed. The daily self of the world is tardy in admission and is not as yet responsive to the more curious factors - the inner-mystery realities - of the larger World. However, the soul is accustomed to entreat and consult with Heaven constantly.

The only impressions which 'stick' upon the soul's higher bodies are those which were come to through love. Eventually every memory is either dissolved or dismissed to its respective realm. It may be available for recovery once we travel back and down into those other realms, but truly they are not with value anyhow if disassociated from our experience of Love as well. One can see that the sum total of a man shall be his Love as he has known, and perhaps ultimately this 'system' is the only safeguard for the higher souls of Man, that there is no provision within his higher being for wayward development or disease in determined character.

All evil, in origin, is spawned from lovelessness. Any being, who by mischief to the extreme, labours for havoc, for upset, for entrapment, for injury to another, in spite, in harm, in crime, in err, is an epitome of lovelessness. The arguments of evil and that Father God did make allowances for - in light and shade - can be simplified thus:-

Father God did not create Evil as such - He did not set His Mind to opposing Himself - verily, Evil is no equal opponent to Love, but rather it is the premature offspring which is as yet so underdeveloped as to be capable of living Love's reality. It must, in part, be loved also, for should it not be, it should not survive. Although wicked and self-despised, corruptive, decadent, malicious, destructive and treacherous, Evil and all of its cohorts is pitiable, redeemable and entitled to a proper development. This is high doctrine, for it is essential to our presumptions about ourselves.

Each man holds those parts of his nature which too are as yet so underdeveloped and tender when exposed. The 'dark-side' to a man which is referenced, is not the reality of the noble being he is. We are rebuked and admonished by our failings constantly, whilst also encouraged by this to demand the changes within our makeover that will improve the mastery of self and subsequently work our way to greatness.

As we adopt and refine 'lower' attributes we become vaguely in touch with certain corresponding beings who are drawn to us by our level of activity in this regard. These beings are more of a hindrance to the man than of assistance, as they are provocative to meet their own ends - which are whatever the association. However, in time the influence of the man wins out and when he, as overlord, has brought light to this parcel of dark nature, the associated beings are instantly affected and redeemed. Now this should be correct from the point also that these beings have had their part to play in the man's overall contest and subsequent victorious glory, and even though it has been unintentional, they are awarded same release, as is the dark pocket of heart he did suffer.

Quite so, are we dependent upon the uptake of men who may advance before us. Those souls who head the evolution of Mankind actually do so that they may cause similar effect in those who are following up behind them. They know full well that the expeditions of soul-development need provide the future keys for the wellspring of Pneu for the men following to advance. They go forth at that front, with the blessing of the greatest light, where there is no filter to dilute its radiance.

The enigma of Love, as a preponderance, calls for answering and invokes the internal awakenings, which promote wellbeing overall when happened upon. There are degrees to which we may experience divine Love as it sweeps over and through our beings; and those occasions to which we are knowingly enveloped with its ferocity, are at best intermittent and diminish in intensity, having but the crest at the time of mirrored acknowledgment, in which one being, by another's love, may come to know themselves and be retrieved from their self-pervading gloom. In little wavelets and in larger also, each man rises to meet with another on the top of the mass of inconsequential detail. We are enlightened to importance and we are forgetful of those trivial significances, and we are taken with the one passion which exceeds all others.

The greatest intangible is also the greatest known. From the palette of delight, from needs met and nurture sustaining; joy, gratitude, exhilaration and all of its exuberance; in piety, in reverence, in faith and courageous optimism; by charity (both outer and of opinion), forgiveness and clear-sighted instincts; by the receiving of Grace and the obedience to God (in His Service, where needed - in answer to); with creativity and all of its expressions; through teaching and in being instructed fruitfully; with the familiar and the foreign; in our powers of blessing and well-wishing; in health and all for the healing; in resolution, with peace, and as the emphasis to Life as known. . . Love is with us and is endemic to all such goodness.

Seek to know Love tremendously!

How often we have suggested that it is for the sake of your soul that you must give your occupation, at least in part, to that which overcomes you with inspired enthusiasm.
Do not be disheartened believing that you are insensible to ever know great joy, for it will of itself initiate the motivation. If we disallow ourselves those times and opportunities for exulted happiness then we dismiss also those openings of destiny which otherwise would have presented. Anticipate the most fulfilling and joyful experiences ahead- it is important to do this that they may come forth.

It is not implausible to find your heart's desire, because all the while it is a reality which is known and recognized by the heart awaiting to become an actuality. We are prompted by foreknowledge of those things that are precious to the heart and soul, and feel required to take notice. If you employ yourself with a wholehearted endeavor, those individuals for which you already share a bond of community will be enabled to draw closer.

Affinities as shared are vital to the continuance of each and every man and woman, for it is that recognition which Love brings that uplifts and upholds us far above our failings and our error.

Consecration of Chapel- 19th June 1994

Today, on this day,
At this moment,
We welcome the graceful beings,
Who with offerings in kind,
In gentle step have braved our presence,
That they may partake in our creation,
Today and on other days,
In our expression.

We come together in thankfulness,
With certain hopefulness and expectation,
That anticipates our reassertion,
Of our true spiritual beginnings.


And whether clothed in this physical substance,
Or as the light-footed from neighboring realm,
We each owe our life to our Heavenly Father,
And that life as is lived, to our Christ.


At this moment, as it goes back,
Back to all of the moments which were before,
We are here and inextricably advanced,
By our spiritual beginnings -
Those origins of Spirit.


And so today,
We shall dedicate this humble parlor -
That it may be frequented,
And used as is intended.

We dedicate it to Christ,
Inviting His Presence especially,
For it is to Christ,
That we entrust our futures,
And it is with Christ that we may align,
And unite with the better-most part
Of our dear brothers in kind;
And it is through Christ,
By His Vision,
That we shall perceive,
Our link and lineage with Heaven.


Much is unseen by Men,
And it is often our faith alone,
Which carries us through this World.
We may come to the very edge however,
Here at this altar,
For it is at this altar -
So designated now especially,
That the mighty effort begins,
For this is the junction,
For souls on both sides,
And it is the very neck of gathered Grace,
Which pools here and is retrieved,
By those who give and take,
From this fount which flows invisibly,
Through way of this small altar.

Our own personal altars
Upon which the light of the spirit ever shines,
Is that of our heart,
By which our deepest devotions
And direct communications
Are immediately transported.


And here, in wood that sleeps
In dreaming consciousness,
We have formed an external heart to come to,
That we may reach Heaven also.
And it is only because of our inner altars,
In which we confide and pray,
That we may make real,
This altar here before us.

And as all eyes are fixed upon
This obvious gateway,
There is a radiance which streams
From every man and woman,
Who in accord direct their love,
And uttermost yearnings in effort together.


And so the hearts are not as one to another,
But all to God, the Father -
Conjoined in splendid direction.
And this empowers the effort -
Enstrengthening the men so joined,
Attempting upliftment,
And redemption for all.


The moments we give to devotion,
Are very few when gathered over a lifetime and accounted for,
And yet our souls crave true perspective,
They know the perils of an empty life.


We may pray today,
That with what time passes
Here in this room,
This room made special,
Shall be remedial in benefaction,
And sustaining to each,
Who hereafter may enter.

Let them come to certainty,
That they are truly loved,
And depart from this Chapel,
With an inner joy that shall sustain them.


Many hopes are brought before an altar,
We pray for the prayers,
Which shall be issued forth,
That they shall be potent,
Exact to the need,
And heard by they who are qualified,
So that we may bring invisibly in,
Those who are too weak,
To vouchsafe themselves-
And call for blessings on behalf of them.


We trust in the efficacy,
Of all prayers silent or spoken,
We pray for their expediency,
And offer in return our loving gratitude.
This loving gratitude,
Is exceptionally all the angels have looked for from a man -
That and his ennoblement,
Which mirrors the piety as is theirs.
They too shall sanction this place with Hope.
And today we invite them to come and go as they please -
Most freely,
And be very welcome.


Finally we may ask,
That this Chapel
Be so insufferable to all Sin,
That Sin's contentions
Are rendered powerless to the men within.


Bring them a levity,
Which is free from the burdens of upset,
That with unreserved happiness,
Their inner commitment,
Shall be reinforced strong.


And with joyous occasion,
This spiritual preparation shall make,
The way for a grand and glorious future for all,
FOR ALL ETERNITY. 

AMEN

Bones- 13th June 1994

Dear Teachers, we have had a question from C. M. which is in three parts. It concerns those who are buried rather than cremated, asking of their remains and whether or not there is a special significance in a graveside visit because of them. She goes on to ask about the ramifications of this, with prayer and contact; and also to ask, what of Christ and His physical body after the Crucifixion and after His Resurrection?

DEAR Child, of all of our attachments within this physical arena, that of our bodily graftings is most dear and especial to us. There is much argument and divisiveness however, within the single constitution of a man, for which there may be this and that suspended from agreement - amicable though it be.

Everybody's body is at this point, advancing and evolving, adapting and reordering, suffering and in turn, strengthening, responding to soul and acknowledging the World in ever new ways. Our bodies are both our door and our key into this World. Simply put, they have been described as mere vessels or vehicles in the past, and yet there is a marvel and a mystery which goes beyond the 'throwaway' or 'disposable' concept.

Too few regard their physical constitution with the reverence and care required to maintain it. We distinguish between life and death with no in-between, however from a spiritual vantage point one can see gradients of dissolution affecting the very many bodies that interweave the physical and markedly, each man does differ in his fortitudes and in his fading.

To some the re-embodiment physically is maligned and despised as an awkward captivity, as a piteous condition. For admittedly there are physical pains experienced and wretchedness made obvious and trials set before a man, which the spirit simply would not anguish with in similar form. But there becomes also an exertion of will in cooperation with the soul of the striving man who works to perform the tedious tasks, just to sustain or drive his frame further. This concentration of exerted effort is the most marvelous preparation for the individual after death, whereupon all conscious trying translates into furthered skills and consciousness in further worlds of experience.

Have you ever heard of the expression "I feel it in my bones"? This quaint phrase is accurate to the core, as it describes our most hardened substance, weighted to the world but mobile, where our concentrations of deep memory reside. Much is transitory and floats in and out and around the man himself. His vitalities, his soul-forces (soul-expressions) and soul-experiences are ever moving and changing, as do the colors which surround him - they are not fixed.

His physical body is as a 'float' overall, a maze also of circulatory systems visible and invisible which stream in and around key centers that correspond to higher faculties and higher spheres. Some (most) attributes are borrowed. All are then individualized, and all conspire around the skeleton, our sturdy 'tree of life' whose boughs and branches support the mass with delicate strength. This 'tree' is independent of the rest insofar as it is totally of our own making and is an extension of our creative will.

As the developing fetus forms, the drawing in of the tiny frame is commanded by the incarnating ego at the time, that has built upon the skill over lifetimes of varying design, and accomplished this task of concentrating matter, personal matter, to their individualized form which is and is to be. We are assisted in the compilation of such 'body building' as is initially carried out prebirth and continues on throughout one's entire lifetime until dissolution. Physiology in this sense - the explanation of the various streams of assistance from levels of beings so apportioned - would of itself take many books indeed to enter into proper and worthy explanation. (You can see why we are irked at the 'throw-away' concept, therefore!) Suffice to say that Man is also in this respect, a synthetic being who has many imports within his system that need be worked over and made adaptable and perfected by him in futures to come. There are many gifts that we are given that need be used before we are truly entitled to call them our own.

The skeletal form is that point where we have driven as far into the World as possible in this hardening process of consolidation. It is of course, the most stable in this respect, and yet whilst it is enhardened, it is to be remembered that the living article is imbued with fluids and fibers which are quite pliable and unlike rock for example, by comparison. This is still an organic component which is by contrast to the metallic bodies with which a man harbors and works with within his fluidic system also.

There is a principle to be remembered here before we go on to further instruction. This is best remembered in regard to many practices and understandings: Men are essentially free beings. Try to remember that, when teachings lead you to necessary areas whereupon we find our threads of existence intertwining and need make explanation of them. For one may arrive at the thought that we are here, there and everywhere in the sense that we leave ourselves, our imprints, everywhere that we have been, and have projected ourselves into. These imprints do trace back to the man assuredly, but not to the point of intruding or impinging upon his future being, for if this were not the case we would be held by the past inescapably. So when we study our certain investitures and how all are linked, we may know that there is a law which prohibits a man to be called upon by his past if he does not himself wish it to be so.

In further explanation of this, we mean to say one can go to an object and decipher a man's past emanations from that object, and by doing so may trace his past history around that time of his being in contact with the object. Furthermore it is possible, if skilled enough, to establish a communicative present-day link with the man (if he is within worldly reach) that may call to him. However if it is not of his comprehension and his available powers of understanding, then he shall rebuke such callings. If there is not a shared or common key, there shall be no communication or choice thereof; and if he is taken up with concentrations elsewhere and does not enter into communication, then it is of his choice entirely and he shall not be bothered or usurped invasively.

Man is a free being. This is a very good and healthy thought to hold. Many times our imprints are to be taken as us - they are mistaken for the soul they represent. There are vast differences in this. Man is freer than we could ever presume. What a wonderful surety to hold! And in respect to the karma of an individual, it may be added that all beings embrace karma lovingly - the soul of Man acknowledges the sense and justice of that which is brought before him. All trials are sweetened eventually. All conquests are truly worth the patience and labor. All men are grateful to the binding laws of karma which facilitate their passage throughout all planes of experience.

Returning to the bones: they are especially significant to a man, even after they have dried and remained after death. The bones themselves continue to hold many memories which were incised within them - particularly in their cavities where the fluids did flow - and when a person goes to the graveside and is within a certain radius of the remaining skeleton there shall be stronger impressions given out which speak to those particularly who shared memories also, and the experience will be greater because of that. 

Bones of monks and saints have long been treasured for the reason that the living men could directly feel the presence of the man past and perhaps come to the deeper impressions of the memory as was held by him at that time. Furthermore, this reservoir of deposit needs to be broken down and dissipated in order for those aspects of the former man (i.e. now made ghostly) to be fully released and for the most part, truly laid to rest. There is little sentimental value in the long run to be gleaned from historical detail. We all have it. One must try to remember that it is the living soul, the current individual, to which we would entrust and share our love with. Aspects of self are of themselves, ongoing and improving. They need release for their own sake - innately and abstractly speaking.

In the ordinary understanding, Christ was boneless. He did not contribute to the formation of such a skeletal frame, His incarnating was without the skeleton as formed by another - which was returned, dissolving during incarnation, for it could not be borne by our God of the Light. All matter was redeemed by Him upon His return. He was completely fluid and animated by His own intensity, requiring not the bones as we should.

**********

Rudolf Steiner :


At the baptism in Jordan, when the significant symbol of the dove appeared above the head of Jesus, he was not merely inspired but directly intuited by the Christ.
On that occasion something shot through the entire body of Jesus of Nazareth, even into those parts which, at the present stage of human development, are most withdrawn from the influence of man — the very bones.
I am now about to say something which to the materialistic consciousness of the present day seems nonsense; but that is of no matter. At the moment when the body of Jesus of Nazareth was permeated and fired by the Individuality of Christ — the great Sun-Spirit — the effect reached even into the bones.
If you burn a bone the cartilaginous part is consumed and the bone ash is left. The mineral substance of the bone and the cartilage are held together by a power which is opposed to fire, but also, therefore, associated with it.
This power is at present entirely beyond the control of man's will, but it was under the control of Him Who was later to pass through the Event of Golgotha. Man can at present move his hand, but has no power to affect the chemical forces of his bones; he has become solid through them. The body of Jesus of Nazareth, through its having been intuited by the Christ, is the only body on earth that has ever acquired control over the force that holds cartilage and bone-ash together.
Through this control over the bones a force entered the world which is positively able to conquer death; for the bones are guilty of the death of man.
Man has become entangled in the mineral part of the earth through being so constructed that he has incorporated into himself solid bony substance. Death came to him because of this, and it is not without cause that death is represented by a skeleton — the symbol is fully justified.
The Christ-Impulse is the living force that is able to again transform the bones that is, to lead men gradually towards that which is spiritual; and this will come to pass in future evolution. This is why no external force was permitted to interfere with the bony structure of Jesus Christ: no bone of Him was to be broken.
The others who were crucified with Him had their bones broken, but in Him the words of the prophet had to be fulfilled: “No bone of Him shall be broken!” This was in order that what had been imparted as a mighty central impulse to the earth should not be spoilt by any outside influence.